Counting and embossing machine



Nov. 4 1924.

J. H. BARTFLS COUNTING AND 'EMBOSSING MACHINE Nov. 4 1924.

J. H. BARTELS coUNTING AND EMBossING MACHINE Filed Jan. 18

1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 72770; ,E ly/ I Nov. 4, 1924. 1,514,191

Y J. H. BARTELS COUNTING AND-EMBOSS ING MACHINE Filed Jan. 18, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 4 Sheets-Sheet 4' m r .M M I J. H. BARTELS COUNTING AND EMBOSSNG MACHINE Filed Jan.

Nov. 4 1924.

Patented Nov. 4, i924.

clerics;`

JOHN HENRY BARTELS, UF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COUNTING- AND EMBOSSING .MACE-EINE.

Application filed Januaiyfl, 1924.

of Illinois, have invented certain new and;

useful improvements in Counting and Embossing Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the reifereiice characters marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

'lhis invention relates to numbering and embossing machines, and more particularly to such a machine adapted for use in polling places for marking ballots.

It is the general practice for a judge ci election or other designated election oiiicial to initial in lead pencil each ballot as it is handed to the voter, and to require the voter to so fold his ballot while in the voting booth as to expose the initialed portion to view, thus identifying the ballot he is about to deposit in the ballot box. `When the polls are closed, there is nothing to prevent the dishonest election ollicial, when. the ballot box is opened 'for the purpose rof counting the ballots, from substituting other initialed ballots, surreptitiously marked for his particular candidate, tor ballots regularly voted.

The principal object oi' my invention is to provide a machine for marking the ballots with certain marks whereby the above stated and other election frauds are obviated.

To the attainment of this and other objects, l have provided a device having suitable dies whereby each ballot may be stamped or embossed with the ward and precinct number and any other desired permanent or special data, and at the same time give the ballot a serial number. The difference between the highest number shown on the machine at the close of the days voting, and the number indicated thereon at the beginning of the day will, of course, indicate the number of ballots stamped, and correspond with the number of ballots actually voted. No substitution of another ballot for one thus stamped and voted could thereafter be made without detection ot the fraud because oi.l the lack of oiiicial marks thereon, or it it did bear the proper stamping marks and had not been regularly voted, the number of ballots in box would not correspond with the Serial No. 636,979.

number indicated by the machine as yhaving.v

been voted.

My inventionv consistsin the novel devicev and combination oi" devices illustratednr the accompanying drawings and herein described and claimed.

In the drawings:

Fig. l isa perspective view of a machine embodying my invention. f

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same, partly'in section.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevationgot the machine, partly in section, the section beingyin the*y plane of the dotted line 3-'8 of- Fig. 4;

Fig. is aside elevation 'of the-machine, partly in section,y with the' end plates removed to show the interior construction in elevation.

Fig. 5 ris avertical sectional view takeny in the plane of the dotted line `5--5 oFig.- 4'.

Fig. 6 isa vertical sectional View taken in. the plane ot the dotted line 6 6 of Fig. 4t;

F ig.y 7 is a top plan view, partly in section, looking down from the plane indicated by the dotted line 7-7 of Fig. 4C.

Fig. `8 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the die.

Fig: 9 is a fragmentary front view show ing the upper part of the platen with a bal-1 lot in positionr thereon and the lower part or' the die which cooperates therewith.

F ig. lO'is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the machine, the section' beingL taken on the dotted line 10-1O ofv Fig. 3;

Referring now to that form of my invention delineated in the said drawing, A represents the'device as a whole,icomprising a base B, a lower housing C, a movablehead or housing l), an upright frame-member or standard E, guide. rods F, F, ai'otatable operating shaft G and means H for operating the sliaft,in this instance, a hand wheel.

The lower housing C is 'provided at one end with an end plate l havinga yhasp y3 hingedly secured thereto and adaptedto enf gage a staple 4 on the correspondingA endV plate 2 of the movable housing D whereby the machine may be locked by a padlock 5,

part 8 of the shaft G. 9 is a ratchet wheel on shaft G which is engaged by the spring pressed pawl 10 whereby the shaft is prevented from being rotated excepting in one direction.

The guides F, F, extend upwardly in parallel, spaced apart relation, one on either side of the standard E, their upper portions passing through somewhat long bearings 1l on the rear of the housing or movable member D. Thus the housing D may be readily moved from its upper position to the housing C and baci; again, being carried in a perfectly straight path so that the male die 12 on its lower face will properly cooperate with the platen 13 or female portion of the die on the housing C.

The following described means are einployed to actuate the housing D from the shaft G. Cn the forward face of the enlarged part 8 of said shaft is secured a. round stud or shaft extension 14, the longitudinal axis of which stud is eccentrically located with respect to the central longitudinal axis of the shaft. This stud 14: is mounted in a boX bearing 15 which latter has sliding engagement with topl and bottom parallel plates or ways 16, 16, on the top of and secured to the head or housing D, and permit ting a lateral travel of the box bearing. It will be understood that when the shaft Gr is given one complete rotation, the head D is a die 12 cut in this instance to indicate 6th ward, 9thprecinct, Republican, to be embossed upon a primary election ballot', but of course the die may be cut to impress any desired word, picture or device. The upper face of the housing C is utilized as the female part 13 and is so cut as to properly cooperate with the male portion 12 to emboss, stamp or imprint the desired mark, symbol or lettering upon the ballot 18 or other article.

In each of the housings C and D, l provide a desired number (in this instance 3) of die discs having their faces cut to be the female and the male dies, respectively, to indicate anydata desired. In this instance I'have illustrated merely numerals and so arranged the discs and their respective parts that each complete cycle of operations shall be recorded, or rather, numbered.

In the housing C I mount a rotatable shaft 19 extending from the front to the rear. Upon this shaft 19 is a disc 20 provided with a plurality of equally spaced apart teeth or pins 21. A movable pawl 22 is adapted to engage the pins of the disc `2() and rotate the disc and the shaft 19.

This pawl 22 is secured to the lower end of a plate 23 which is fastened to and moves with the head or housing D. The plate is so positioned that it lies in a vertical plane just inside of the rear wall of the casing or 22 will of course vmove with it and finally engage the next subjacent pin (indicated 25, in F ig. 5), and when the head D is moved upwardly, carrying with it the plate 23 and pawl 22, the hooked end of said pawl 22 being then engaged underneath the pin 25, will pull said pin upwardly with the result that the disc 2O is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow. A spring pressed stop arm 26 secured at 27 to the rear wall of the lower housing C prevents the disc 20 from being rotated in the opposite direction to that in which it isbeing rotated when the end of the pawl 22 is descending, and its tip lirst engages the pin 25.

A similar shaft 28 is located in the head D in alignment with and parallel to the shaft 19. Said shaft 28 carries a disc 29 provided with pins 30 which are engaged by a pawl 31 pivoted at 32 to a plate 33. The plate is secured to the lower housing C and entends upwardly therefrom into the upper head or housing D and adjacent to the rear wall thereof. Said plate 33 carries a tensionspring 34 which bears against the pawl 31.

it will be readily understood from this construction that as the head D is moved down toward the housing C, the pin 29 seen in Fig. 5 to be in engagement with the pawl 31, will slip by and be disengaged from said pawl and the neXt pin above it, indicated at 35, will be brought down into a position where it in turn is engaged by the end of the pawl 31; and that in the return movement, when the head D is being raised into the position shown in Fig. 5, the engagement of the pin 35 with the pawl 31 will cause a rotation of the disc 29 and the shaft 28 in the direction indicated by the arrow. A fixed spring pressed stop 36 in the head D in engagement with the pins 30 on the side of the shaft 28 opposite to the pawl 31, of course, will prevent the disc 29 and the shaft 28 from being rotated in more than onev direction.

Upon the shaft 19 are a series of discs 37, 38 and 39, and on the shaft 28 are a similar set of discs 40, 41 and 4:2. Each of these discs are provided with a plurality of surfaces carrying male and female dies for numerals, indicated at 43. These sets of discs,

to Ll2, inclusive, constitute a conventional in the usual manner, so that the ballots or sheets i8, being successively placed upon the table C will be numbered yserially and consecutively, each time the head l) descends. its the details of construction of this counting device constitute no part of the present invention, it is considered not necessary to describe the same, as the operation will be readily understood.

lt will be understood from the foregoing .lescription that With this stamping and numbering device in use, for example, at a polling place, the operation will be as fol lows:

The ballot i8 is placed upon the table C, the shaft G rotated one complete revolution, causing the head D to descend and impress upon the ballot the markings indicated in Fig. 8, and the numerals c"(101. The bringing of the head l) to its raised position turns one set of numbering discs, for example, the discs 37 and 40, one notch so as to bring in apposition those faces bearing the numerals 2. The first ballot will then be Withdrawn, the second bal lot inserted, the shaft G given one turn and the second ballot Will then be embossed With the ward and precinct numbers, as indicated, and the numerals 002 etc.

rlhus at the end of any given period, or when the polls close, tie total number of ballots thus marked Will be registered by the total count on the discs 39, 38 and 37. Although this machine has been designed more particularly for use at voting places, it will be readily understood that it may be used for a variety of other purposes.

l claim as my invention:

l. ln a machine of the class described, a frame, a pair of vertically disposed, separated guide rods on said frame, a rotatable operating shaft journalled in the upper part of said frame, an upper housing movably mounted upon said guide rods, a plurality of elements constituting a complete counting unit rotatably mounted in each housing, adapted for cooperative action to emboss. a sheet or ballot inserted therebetween, a rotatable disc provided with pins operatively connected to operate the counting unit in each head, a member fixedly mounted on the lov-:er housing and projecting into the upper housing, a spring pressed pavvl pivotally mounted on said member to operatively engage the pins on the rotatable disc of the movable housing, a second member lixedly mounted on the movable housing and projecting into the iixed housing, a spring pressed, hooked pawl pivotally mounted on said second member to operativelyv engage the pins on the rotatable disc of the fixed housing, and means for giving the movable housing` a reciprocation upon the rotation. of the operating shaft.

2. in a machine of the class described, a

frame, a pair of vertically disposed, separated guide rods on said frame, a rotatable operating shaft journalled in the upper part of said frame, an upper housing movably mounted upon said guide rods, a plurality of elements constituting a complete count ing unitr rotatably mounted in each housing', adapted for cooperative action to emboss a sheet or ballot inserted therebetween, a rotatable disc providedivith pins operatively connected to operate the counting unit in each head, a member ixedly mounted on the loi-ver housing and projecting .into theL upper housing, aI spring pressed paivl pivotally mounted on said member to operatively engage the pins on the rotatable disc of the movable housing, a second member ixedly mounted on the rmovable housing and projecting into the fixed housing, a spring pressed, hooked paivl pivotally mounted on said second member to operatively engage the pins on therotatable disc of the fixed housing. and means for giving the movable housing a reciprocation upon the rotation of the operating shaft, the adjacent faces of the movable and iixed housings being provided with aligned openings through Which the operating faces of the respective counting units act in cooperation for marking the ballot When placed upon the face of the lower housing.

3. lin a machine of the class described, a frame, a pair of vertically disposed, separated guide rods on said frame, a rotatable operating shaft journalled in the upper part of said frame, an upper housing movably mounted upon said guide rods. a plurality of element-s constituting` a complete counting unit rotatably mounted in each housing, adapted for cooperative action to emboss a sheet or ballot inserted therebetween, a rotatable disc provided With pins operatively connected to operate the counting unit in each head, a member iixedly mounted on the lower housing and projecting into the upper housing, a spring pressed paWl pivotally mounted on said member to operatively engage the pins on the rotatable disc of the movablev housing, a second ymember tixedly mounted on the movable housing and projecting into the fixed housing, a spring pressed, hooked pavvl pivotally mounted on said second member to operatively engage the pins on the rotatable disc of the fixed housing, and horizontally disposed guide- Ways on the movable housing, a bearing box slida'bly mounted therebetween, a stud eccentrically extending from the operating shaft and rotatably mounted in said bearing box.

4. In a machine of the class described, a frame, a pair of vertically disposed, separated guide rods on said frame, a rotatable operating shaft journalled in the upper part of said frame, an upper housing movably mounted upon said guide rods, a plurality' of elements constituting a complete counting unit rotatably mounted in each housing, adapted for cooperative action to emboss a sheet or ballot inserted therebetween, a rotatable disc provided with pins operatively connected to operate the counting unit in each head, a member fixedly mounted on the lower housing and projecting into the upper housing, a spring pressed pawl pivotally mounted on said member to operatively engage the pins on the rotatable disc of the movable hensing, a second member xedly mounted on the movable housing and pro- .'ecting into the fixed housing. a spring` FJ L .1

pressed, hooked pawl pivotally mounted on said second member to operatively engage the pins on the rotatable disc of the fixed housing, and horizontally disposed guideways on the movable housing, a 'bearing box slidably mounted therebetween, a stud eccentrically extending from the operating shaft and rotatably mounted in said bearing box, the adjacent faces of the movable and fixed housings being provided with aligned.

unit rotatably mounted in each housing, adapted for cooperative action to emboss a sheet or ballot inserted therebetween, a rotatable disc provided with pins operatively connected to operate the counting unit in each head, a member fiXedly mounted on the lower housing and projecting into the upper housing, a spring pressed pawl pivotally mounted on said member to operatively engage the pins on the rotatable disc of the movable housing, a second member fixedly mounted on the movable housing and projecting into the lined housing, a spring pressed, hooked pawl pivotally mounted on said second member to operatively engage the pins on the rotatable disc of the fixed housing, and means for giving the movable housing a reciprocation upon the rotation of the operating shaft, the adjacent faces of the movable and fixed housings being provided with aligned openings through which.

the operating faces of the respective counting units act in cooperation for marking the ballot when placed upon the face of the lower housing, said faces of the movable and fixed housings being also provided with cooperating companion dies for stamping predetermined characters on eachv ballot.

ln testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aiiiX my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 16th day of January, 1924.

JOHN HENRY BARTELS. Witnesses:

TAYLOR E. BROWN, B. L. MAoGnnoon. 

